'Kumaraswamy unperturbed by Krishna's re-entry'

Mangalore, Mar 18: Former Chief Minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy today said neither his Party nor he, himself was worried about the much-hyped re-entry of former Maharashtra Governor S M Krishna into State politics. Talking to newspersons here after the party workers' meeting here, he noted that the media had given much publicity to the re-entry of Mr Krishna, while failing to give similar publicity to his previous Government's programmes and achievements.

Asking the party workers not to give much attention to the re-entry of Mr Krishna, the former Chief Minister said he was confident that the people of the State would vote his party back to power based on the good governance under his regime. Mr Kumaraswamy told the party cadres not to worry about the exit of certain leaders from the party as ''it is the workers of the party who are more important than the leaders.'' Making a scathing attack on one BJP leader and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who had given a call to Karnataka to follow the Gujarat model yesterday, he said there was no need for Karnataka to follow the Gujarat model. Referring to Mr Modi's criticism, he said Mr Modi need not teach a lesson to him or his party about sincerity. ''Let the BJP and Mr Modi first learn about sincerity. The BJP has not been sincere to the electorate after seeking votes on the Ayodhya issue...If I had not been sincere, the BJP would not have tasted power.'' On the dharna staged by BJP leaders, headed by former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, in front of Raj Bhavan demanding early issuance of BPL cards, Mr Kumaraswamy claimed that Mr Yeddyurappa himself, during a Cabinet meeting, had opposed this, stating that if issuance of BPL cards crossed the limit of 60 per cent, it would have an adverse impact on the State's financial position.

He appealed to the people to elect only those leaders who could raise their voice in the Parliament on issues pertaining to Karnataka. There was no strong political leader from the State now and hence the Centre was not giving any importance to State's issue. Later, Mr Kumaraswamy addressed a public meeting at Kaup near Udupi.